Tooth polisher



Aug. 17, 1954 w. LEATHERS TOOTH POLISHER Filed Dec. e, 1947 WNVE 0R.

Patented Aug. 17, 1954 Ward Leathers, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Tooth Polisher Corporation, a corporation of" Dela ware Application December 6, 194-7, SerialNo. 790,170

4 Claims. 1.

The universally accepted personal procedure for dental cleansing is to brush the teeth with a conventional toothbrush supplied with a conventional dentifrice; and for further. cleaning of the teeth to rely upon a dentist, who, as a part of his service to society, removes the stains, films, discolorations' and the like from the surface of the tooth enamelprimarily the front or exposed side of the front teeth. This also is the conventional and universally accepted procedure. Home-type brushing is primarily a wet process corresponding to scrubbing and serviceable only insofar as scrubbing cleans. The dentistsimethod is entirely different and supplements home brushing; He uses a dry process capable of. both cleaning, in this case the removal of. elements not removable by wet scrubbing, and of polishing.

The object of the present invention is to. provide the means, and the use of the means; for home cleaning and polishing of the teeth-for obtaining the same result as the dentist obtains and in a similarly dry manner. This home-type polishing also supplements home-type brushing.

The dentist uses a disc of fine drysand-pape'r on the rotating end of his drill holder. With this disc and others of varying coarseness and fineness of the abrasives bound thereto he refurbishes' the teeth, largely for appearance. reasons.- He finally polishes the show teeth to the point domanded by the patient and in keeping with his time and-finesse.

According to my invention, the polishers; and their method of use, depart fromthe dentists means. and: use in that they are rubbed against the teeth with the fingers by' a back and: forth motion, not a high-speed rotary motion. They cannot beneatly fitted between the teeth as the dentiststilts and fits his disc, so they require a pile surface for that purpose. They cannot be stiff and sand-paper like, as is the dental disc, they'must be soft and flexible. They cannot have abrasive applied and adhering directly to their surface, nor can they be dipped into abrasive powder from time to time as is the custom of some dentists. They must have their polishing agent embedded in the pile in a waterproof and non-removable manner.. Like'th'edentists disc they are disposable after use.

In order to make this specification clear and understandable, I have appended drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tooth polisher folded for use.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a tooth polisher folded for packing.

piece of novel and unique polishing. material to be fully described hereinafter, approximately 1% X 4". It is folded once longitudnially and bi s'ymmetrically (see Fig. 1). polishing surface is on the outside when being. used for polishing the teeth. It will be noted that there are two usable surfaces I. and 2,. and a very important usable edge 3'. The material of these polishers, no matter how soft and flexible, if using a paper base, is such that the sheared edge when used saw-fashion along. the teeth would cut the gum. The rounded edge 3, with itssoft pile, completely obviates that dificul'ty. Instructions for use, printed on each polisher (Fig. 2) advise the use of one polishing face. for the upper teeth with the turned edge up, and the other side for the lower teeth with the turned edge down.

As the polisher is packed, the pile surface is turned in (Fig. 2), and the instructions thereby appear clearly. The user is, of course, advisedto turn the polisher inside out for use. But there are other important reasons for packing in this manner. It. is a means of keeping the cleaner less exposed to dirt when the pile of. one half of the cleaner is embedded in the pile of the other half. This is especially true of a cleaner removedfrom the package as purchased andcarried' in purse or pocket. But if. the cleaner were packed withthe pile on the outside it. would tend to crawl. If it were jacketed, openend, it would crawlout of its jacket, and. if one polisher should contact another they would creep or crawl with respect to each other. I

Each individual polisher is preferably packed in jacket (Fig. 3), of cellophane or other suitable material, printed, decorated, or plain, as desired. The jacket E'isoverlapp'ed and sealed at" 62 In manufacture, a strip of. polishing material 1% wide is fed from a roll to a machine that folds the running. ribbon of material and: then- The pile or 3 weight, wet-strength-the wet-strength characteristic being obtained by adding polystyrene or other suitable plastic to the pulp as the paper is made. This paper, of suitable multiple width for slitting to ribbons of polisher width, is processed as follows:

The type and width of paper In (Fig. 4), just described, approximately 3 mills thick, is caused to travel slowly through a machine which coats with adhesive H, sets with rayon [2 or other suitable fiber or filament, and impregnates with suitable polishing compoundsall in the manner described. Quick drying adhesive is evenly spread over one side of the paper by squeegee or roll feed. The adhesive is of plastic origin, such as vinyl resin, yielding a dry, finished product highly flexible and water-proof-if not trul waterproof, at least water resistant to a high degree. The fiber, preferably rayon flock approximately long and accurately cut, is stood endwise in the liquid adhesive by sifting the flock onto the sticky paper in an electrostatic field of very high intensity.

This electrostatic field is obtained by passing the paper over a mechanism disposed immediately beneath that portion of the paper to which the flock is then being applied. The mechanism comprises a yard or so of very heavy canvas stretched extremely tight, by strong springs,over a roll or rollers of hex or other non-circular section, rotated at high speed by a motor.

Every fiber settles in the adhesive substantially vertical and the density depends upon the amount of flock sifted during the time of paper passage. When the correct amount is supplied the result is as fine, as even, and as flawless as the finest pile fabric. For tooth polisher purposes, pure white velvet-like material is preferable. Slight excess fiock is blown ofi and picked up by suction.

The flocked material is kept within the electrostatic field sufficiently long to hold the fibers vertical, while the adhesive climbs by capillary action about their bases, as at 15. This very presently assures their permanent, erect position. Immediately, sufficient heat is applied to the back of the paper by hot table and/or the flock side byinfra-red lamps or heated air to remove enough of the volatile of the adhesive to slightly congeal the mass. At this point in the process the correctly measured amount of polishing compound is evenly sifted over the flocked surface. These fine and uniform particles 11 attach themselves to the surface of the adhesive that has crept up the sides of the filaments. Not only does this procedure assure the disposition of the polishing ingredient on the surface of the adhesive but it disposes it along the shafts of the fibers, excepting only at the tips. As the fibers are rubbed over the teeth this ingredient is in the ideal position to serve its polishing purpose. The polishing ingredients may be chosen as preferred from those approved in the Dental Formulary. I prefer also to use together with these polishing ingredients a newly discovered facility, sodium fluoride, which when added in extremely small quantities positively improves the enamel of the teeth. The reason for the improvement lies in the fact that the fluoride is absorbed through the surface of the teeth, thereby hardening the calcium phosphate of the tooth enamel. The polishing process alone makes tooth enamel, like any highly polished surface, less subject to foreign lodgment and thereby less subject to decay. The mild polishing operation at frequent intervals, together with the fluoride treatment, positively bleaches, hardens and polishes the enamel of the tooth surfaces exposed to such treatment.

I claim:

1. A disposable tooth polisher comprising an elongated piece of paper one side of which is coated throughout with soft fibers and polishing ingredient held thereto by a water-resisting adhesive, the fibers extending out from the paper piece and forming a soft flexible pile surface, the elongated paper sheet being folded longitudinally along the center line thereof, the fiber coated side of said folded sheet being disposed outermost when the sheet is used for polishing the teeth and providing two polishing soft pile surfaces at opposite sides of the folded sheet and a rounded longitudinal marginal soft pile surface bordering said side faces along one side margin thereof.

2. A disposable tooth-polisher comprising a piece of light weight flexible paper coated on one side with soft fibers set in a flexible water-resisting adhesive to stand out from the paper piece and form a soft flexible pile surface, and a polishing ingredient disposed between said fibers and held by the said adhesive.

3. A disposable tooth-polisher comprising a piece of light weight flexible paper coated on one side with soft fibers set in flexible water-resist ing adhesive to project outfrom the paper piece and form a soft flexible pile surface, anda polishing ingredient disposed between said fibers, said polishing ingredient being held by the said adhesive on the surface of the fibers throughout a portion of the length thereof.

4. A disposable tooth-polisher comprising an oblong shaped piece of light weight flexible paper coated on one side with rayon fibers set in a flexible water-resisting adhesive to stand out from the paper piece and form a soft flexible pile surface, said adhesive extending a substantial distance along the length of the fibers, and a polishing ingredient held on the surface of the fibers by the adhesive.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,082,041 Paine Dec. 23, 1913 1,421,911 Cohen July 4, 1922. 1,530,459 Carmichael Mar. 17, 1925 1,611,640 Janus Dec. 21, 1926 1,902,921 Underwood Mar. 28, 1933 2,027,112 Merriam Jan. '7, 1936 2,068,400 De Rome Jan. 19, 1937 2,092,438 Wilt Sept. 7, 1937 2,122,318 Jobst June 28, 1938 2,130,244 Nishio Sept. 13, 1938 2,173,032 Wintermute Sept. 12, 1939 2,173,078 Meston Sept. 12, 1939 2,176,308 Larkin Oct. 17, 1939 2,324,789 Mayeux July 20, 1943 2,419,896 Hobelmann Apr. 29, 1947 2,563,259 Miller Aug. '7, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date Austria Sept. 10, 1910 

